Bridging the Gap for ALICE: Charitable Organizations Acting Amid Rising Inflation and Further Solutions Using AI

Abstract — Nationwide, nearly 37.9 million U.S. households fall into the Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) category. These households earn above the Federal Poverty Line but below the ALICE Household Survival Budget, making them ineligible for many public assistance programs. Nonprofit organizations like United Way and Feeding America have developed tailored assistance programs to support ALICE households. This study utilizes data from ALICE reports, U.S. Census data, and tools such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data Retrieval Tools and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Policy Rules Database to analyze the challenges faced by ALICE households. Additionally, data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series - Current Population Survey (IPUMS CPS) is examined using Microsoft Excel’s Pivottable to quantify the impact of nonprofit programs through the Household Rasch Food Security Score (FSRASCH) metric. The analysis highlights a significant gap in the number of ALICE households receiving assistance, attributed to inadequate access to information about available programs. To address this, AskALICE, an AI chatbot, is proposed. Developed using Yellow.ai’s Orchestrator LLM, AskALICE provides an accessible, centralized solution to inform ALICE households about eligibility and available assistance programs. By leveraging various data tables, assistance program information, and machine learning capabilities, AskALICE aims to bridge the information gap and enhance economic stability for millions of ALICE households. This study underscores the importance of accessible information in improving support for the ALICE population and proposes a practical solution with significant implications for economic stability.